Dean's Distinguished Lecture: Professor Mark Britnell

Human: Solving the global workforce crisis in healthcare

This lecture will focus on the global shortage of healthcare workers and how it relates to the NHS Plan, especially digital technologies, and AI.

Professor Mark Britnell

Mark has dedicated all his 36 years of professional experience to the development of healthcare around the world, having worked in 81 countries on 450+ occasions.

He is a professor at the Global Business School for Health at University College London and at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, where he teaches the next generation of healthcare leaders on the comparative performance of health systems globally. Mark is also Chairman of Health Innovation Manchester, one of the leading innovation clusters in the NHS.

Mark started his career on the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme and became one of the youngest ever teaching hospital chief executives at 34, leading University Hospitals Birmingham where he masterminded the largest new hospital development in NHS history. He went onto run NHS South Central, leading the NHS from Oxford to the Isle of Wight, before taking a position as a Director General at the Department of Health where he sat on the NHS Management Board.

He joined KPMG in 2009 as Global Head of Health and later became Global Head of Health, Government & Infrastructure, responsible for nearly one-quarter of KPMG global revenues. He was made Vice Chair of KPMG UK in 2020 and has written two books which have sold in 106 countries and been translated into Mandarin, Korean and Portuguese. ‘In Search of the Perfect Health System’ won first prize awards in China and the UK and his second book, ‘Human: Solving the Global Workforce Crisis in Healthcare’ anticipated the world-wide shortage of healthcare staff.

From 2023, Mark established his own enterprise and has a portfolio of positions in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. He speaks internationally and travels often. He sits on the Board of the King’s Fund and has held several charity positions, including Prostate Cancer UK. Mark survived prostate cancer at the age of 42 and donated all his book royalties to cancer research and care. His Linkedin page can be found here.

Event Details

Monday 22 September 2025

5.15 pm

IBRB Lecture Theatre, Warwick Medical School, Gibbet Hill, Coventry, CV4 7AL. (Location map here).

We will also stream the lecture on Teams.

As well as our car parks at Gibbet Hill, there is ample parking on main campus, which is a brisk 10 minute walk from the Medical School. Information on where to park and paying for parking can be found here.